When the U.S. Senate introduced immigration reform legislation last spring, the
travel industry applauded. Unfortunately, the bill has lingered in legislative limbo ever since, eclipsed by the government shutdown and debt ceiling negotiations. Now, travel leaders are encouraging lawmakers to pick up where they left off, issuing a renewed call for immediate action on immigration reform.
Last week, for instance, the U.S. Travel Association co-sponsored “Americans for Reform: Immigration Reform for Our Economy,” a legislative fly-in that brought 600 public- and private-sector leaders from across the country to Capitol Hill to discuss immigration reform with members of Congress.
“For those of us in travel and tourism, the opportunities at hand break down into two broad categories: One, promoting and facilitating international tourism in the United States, and two, stabilizing our industry’s workforce,” said Marriott International President and CEO Arne Sorenson, who participated in the fly-in. “[M]odernizing our tourist and business visa processing systems is essential to making sure we can take advantage of the explosive growth in travel demand building in emerging economies. Competitor nations are moving aggressively to make it easy for travelers from Brazil and China, in particular, to come to their countries. The economic opportunity here is massive — we’re talking billions of dollars within a decade. We need to keep pace.”
Separate from the immigration reform bill introduced in the Senate, but with many of the same pro-travel provisions, U.S. Travel President and CEO Roger Dow has encouraged the House of Representatives to support the Jobs Originating through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act, which would:
• Expand the Visa Waiver Program;
• Institute measures to encourage more travel from Canada;
• Expand the Global Entry program, through which pre-approved, low-risk international travelers can utilize an expedited clearance process upon entry into the United States;
• Mandate expedited visa processing for travelers who wish to visit the United States; and
• Facilitate the use of secure videoconferencing to conduct visa interviews, providing increased access to a U.S. visa for potential travelers.
The lodging industry also is pushing immigration reform, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), which last month sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.), encouraging them to bring immigration reform to a vote in the House.
“The passage of meaningful immigration reform is of vital importance to this nation not only for security reasons, but for economic ones,” AH&LA President and CEO Katherine Lugar said in a statement. “The members of the Senate recognized the urgent need for repairs to our broken immigration system and worked swiftly to pass their reform measure. [Our] letter to Chairman Goodlatte and Ranking Member Conyers is intended to renew the call for reform in the House and move this issue back to the front burner.”